Aston Martin can seemingly do no wrong at the moment, with a recent run of cars to make enthusiasts and collectors go weak at the knees. The magicians at Aston's Gaydon HQ look set to continue that fine form by taking the Vanquish Zagato Concept that debuted at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este last month into limited production, giving us an excuse to fawn over its carbon fiber curves again.
It's been a busy 2016 so far for Aston Martin, starting with the twin-turbo V12 DB11 and the announcement of a hypercar project being run in cooperation with Red Bull. Then came the announcement of a dogleg-manual V12 Vantage. When the drop-dead gorgeous Vanquish Zagato Concept made its debut at Lake Como many dared to dream of a production run, and now those dreams have been answered.
Aston and Zagato have a history extending back to the 1960 DB4 GT Zagato, a car now worth more than £10 million (US$14.6 million). Since then, the Italian-British alliance has created limited edition cars capable of stopping traffic in 1986, 2002 and 2011.
Launched earlier this year, the Vanquish Zagato is based on a regular Vanquish, but has been comprehensively reworked to improve on its credentials as a loping grand tourer. Power is never a real issue where Aston Martin's 6.0-liter V12 is concerned, but the Zagato has been given a little bump from 565 hp (421 kW) up to 592 hp (441 kW).
That bump corresponds with a 3.5 second sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph), making it 0.3 seconds quicker than the standard car. Then again, that's not exactly the point here, this is a car to be admired, and admire it we will.
We'll admire the way the car's one-piece carbon fiber panels, designed that way to remove any unsightly cutlines, flow over the haunches and meet the roofline. We'll enjoy the sweeping rear diffuser, and circular taillights using the same blade technology featured on the Vulcan. Most of all, we'll admire the double bubble roof, a staple of Zagato design which is oft copied but rarely replicated to the same effect.
Inside, the production car's is kitted out with lashings of leather, anodized bronze and carbon fiber, and the seats are finished with unique stitching and embossed headrests. The basic architecture hasn't been dramatically changed compared to the standard car, but that's no bad thing.
"Over the years, we have developed and refined our own design language and we have always gone that little bit further with our special series cars like CC-100, One-77 and Aston Martin Vulcan," says Aston Martin Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichmann. "The Vanquish Zagato Concept shows how our two companies can come together and push the definition of Aston Martin design."
Just 99 examples of the Vanquish Zagato will be built, with deliveries to start in the first quarter of 2017. As is so often the case with limited run cars, there's no price listed but if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it.
Source: Aston Martin